Want to skipper your own charter yacht but need a qualification? Keep it simple and stress free with an RYA Day Skipper course in Greece with Sailing Holidays. Sue Pelling and her husband Julio did just that and are now free to ‘go it alone’!
With the need for qualifications becoming more and more prevalent in everyday life, it’s not surprising that the requirements for bareboat yacht charter, particularly in Europe, are becoming more stringent. Gone are the days when it was possible to charter a yacht through merit alone. Now, if you want to charter a yacht bareboat style, you need a ‘ticket’ to do so, with one of the minimum requirements an RYA Day Skipper qualification.
As a competitive dinghy and keelboat sailor and, through my career as a yachting journalist, which has given me the opportunity to sail on many a high-performance racing yachts, qualifications have not been necessary. The same goes for Julio my husband, who is a competent sailor but has less competitive experience. With no official qualifications between us therefore, we thought it was high time to face the challenge and sign up for our RYA Day Skipper course.
We wanted to combine our course with a holiday in the sun, so Sailing Holidays was the obvious choice for us. Its glowing reputation as a professionally-run company was a good indication of what to expect and thankfully we were not disappointed.
This British based company that has been running top class charter holidays and training courses in the Mediterranean for over 40 years, is owned and run by Barrie and Heidi Neilson. They have the whole range of sailing holiday options covered including charter, flotilla and training in Greece and beyond, which means whatever level of experience you are (from total beginners to advanced) there is something for everyone.
Home schooling
Once we’d signed up for our Sailing Holidays course and been sent all the necessary navigation tools to complete the on-line theory section of the exam, we were ready to go. Given our busy working lives, we were keen to keep study time to the bare minimum but as we soon discovered once we started, there really are no short-cuts. If, like us, you’ve not really studied tides, navigation, lights and buoyage, or come across tidal curves or clearing lines before, do not be fooled into thinking you can wing it. The recommended 40 hours study time really is there for a reason!
The on-line course, designed and directed by Steve Hills – Principal Corfu Sea School – proved to be an
